Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I understand that. Part of the reason people who are in direct provision want to stay in direct provision is the length of time they have been in it. If that issue is addressed it will not be a problem in the future because most people will want to move on and try to access housing closer to schools and services. If one is in Mosney one might not want to stay there for the rest of one's life; one might want to move closer to Drogheda or Balbriggan, for example. If there is no alternative one will try to keep a roof over one's head. I find it odd that there are people who are in direct provision who are in receipt of €19 yet there are now 500 people who theoretically could be working or at least receiving some type of State benefit beyond the €19 and they will be in the system and that will cause its own tensions. I am not saying there is a solution. Hopefully the working group will address that.

Mr. Dowling has mentioned that he hopes that the working group under Brian McMahon will report after Easter 2015 and I wish it luck in that. Will Mr. Dowling publish that report as quickly as possible and also indicate what the short-term, medium-term, and long-term issues are because some of the issues that have been highlighted to us over the years and from the reports from the committee members who attended can be addressed quite quickly as they are minor changes to policy?

Other aspects are long term, including housing, which is out of the Minister of State's hands. We need to see action very quickly so that, after the Minister of State receives the report, he will address elements within three months or six months. Otherwise, it will be another report stacked on a shelf, which is how some people view these reports.